Father smashes up head shop after son's overdose

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — A northern New York man has admitted he used a baseball bat to smash up a head shop after his son overdosed on bath salts sold at the store.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports that Dan Avery, 49, of Watertown, recently pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for breaking a glass countertop and merchandise at Tebb's Headshop in his hometown.

Avery says his 24-year-old son was hospitalized when he overdosed on bath salts the son bought at Tebb's. Avery says he went to the shop in July after and "just went crazy" after the clerk showed him the products and how to use them.

So-called bath salts are actually synthetic drugs that can mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine.

Avery was sentenced Friday to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay $638 in restitution.